On living a normal life in an abnormal place

Posted on Monday, Aug 10, 2015

I have decided that three months is really just an awkward amount of time. It is too long to be considered a vacation, but really too short to be ‘living’ somewhere. It doesn’t give you enough time to put down roots lest they be ripped up three months later, but you can’t survive that long without the routine of everyday life. There must be a necessary balance then. A balance that is hard enough to strike without having to consider it in a city like London.

It is easy to feel like you need to be seeing something always here. The National Gallery, Westminster, Camden market, the Queen’s Theatre, Hyde Park, the Duke of Wellington’s house. With so much to see in only 90 days it is easy to feel lazy here if you need to do some chores, run an errand, or, God forbid, take a nap.

But it’s okay to have a normal, not-always-interesting, sometimes-boring routine. In fact, you really need one - this city can’t always be sexy and exciting. There is the weight of the routine of life that you still have to face: up by 7:30, at work by 8:30, home by 6:00 to do chores and make dinner. The trick is to be okay with living a normal life here in an abnormal place.

The real London experience is making the routine count. Take lunch in the courtyard of the Victoria & Albert Museum, go the long way through Hyde Park to pick up your dry cleaning, take a nap in Grosvenor square. It’s okay to be boring sometimes, even in London. Just make it count.